Blog Post #11- Avatar Maker

 This entry is about a tool of my own interest- found in Doctor Wang's "Learning: Creativity" list. It is called Avatar Maker, and it is a free online resource where users can create a personalized avatar that represents them. Below is an image of the example avatar I created of myself using this tool as an example.

This site allows students to create a personal image that they can use as a profile photo, for example. I think it would be fun to integrate this activity at the beginning of the year so students can have this image as their profile picture in Google Classroom and/or other educational sites that require/allow a profile image. Educators can also have students practice creation by assigning them a project where they use this resource to create an avatar of someone else important in their life. This can provide teachers with helpful insight into the child's life, and provide an opportunity for conversation and connection between teacher and student. This would be a good get-to-know-you activity. 

Because this technology replaces what can be done without it (drawing an avatar on paper) I would say it would fall into the "S" category of the SAMR framework. However, I have found that it would fall into the "A" for the augmentation category, because this tool improves what could be done without it.

There is a huge downfall with this site. For culturally-responsive practices, I am not sure this site could be used. When you click on the link (to check this out click here) there are two options that pop up to begin creating an avatar: male and female. For non-binary students, as well as other members of the LGBTQIA+ community (and allies) this is not inclusive to other gender identities and has a great potential to offend these students. In addition, once you select a gender for your avatar, it "male" or "female" becomes a part of the URL, and the PDF that is downloaded once finished. Because of this, I feel this is not a culturally-responsive tool to integrate into instruction.

This site is easy to use, and there is versatility. All the features can be modified and personalized. Skin color, eye color, lip color, hair color, and more can all be made any color. Features can be made bigger or smaller. However, due to the fact that there are only two gender options, it is not ideal for versatility in that area. Furthermore, because of the reality that students are forced to pick between only two genders and cannot skip this step- I do not see myself using this for educational purposes. I feel that it could land me into sticky territory because of this, and it is not culturally responsive or welcoming to diverse students.